Wednesday, September 17, 2008 Editorials: CA justices’ covenant
JUSTICES of the Court of Appeals came together in Manila the other day to sign a covenant “vowing to save the institution’s reputation and restore the public’s faith by being moral, fair and righteous.”
Some 30 justices and court employees reportedly wore pins that said “We Shall Overcome.”
Never before has our judicial system been deeply blemished as it had been recently when a CA justice was ordered dismissed for his involvement in the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco)-Government Service Insurance System takeover imbroglio.
Whether we like it or not, the CA was for the first time placed in a very embarrassing circumstance that had greatly tarnished the country’s judicial image.
The CA is the second highest judicial level after the Supreme Court.
Control
The controversy grew out of the heated clash between Meralco and GSIS, which has a considerable investment in the privately owned power firm.
The battle over control of Meralco management has presumably driven the power firm’s top gurus to persuade the CA to favor it in the case that sought a temporary restraining order against Meralco’s holding of its annual corporate meeting.
Then a CA justice revealed that he was offered an “alleged P10 million bribe by a supposed Meralco emissary.”
The controversy led to the dismissal of another CA justice “for showing undue interest in the case and dishonesty, among other offenses.”
The SC chief justice himself affirmed that the case “brought down the CA to its lowest level.”
“Our reputation as an institution has been badly tarnished.
“We have been subjected to sweeping generalizations, have been called names... despised and insulted.
“Yes, the tide of adverse public opinion has left us battered and bruised.
“And we are silently hurting. Our hearts cannot help but grieve.”
Fallible
The CA’s fall, though, has brought to light the long-talked about, long-whispered fallibility of our courts at the lower levels, the municipal and regional courts, where it has long been said that justice could be bought and that justice is only for the moneyed.
That, of course, is rather unfair, and too sweeping an indictment.
Anyway, the CA’s covenant could be a judicial silver lining, the start of moral regeneration in our courts.
